Stare
by twilighttries
Summary: [oneshot] 'I think that you’re absolutely, undeniably, outrageously, shockingly beautiful,' he said. I blinked. [sorakairi]


I hate writing beginnings, don't you? After waiting two hours to audition for regional chorus, I was pissed, but I had an idea for a story. Here it is. :) Please forgive typos. I'm rushing to get this up.

**Disclaimer:** Nope.

They were staring at me.

Again.

I sighed. Boys tended to gawk at me, and I despised it. I mean, I wasn't _that_ good looking. I guess I had a pretty face, and I liked my hair, though it was a very unique shade of brownish purple. And it always made me so self-conscious.

So, where I sat on that dirty old floor, I took note of the posse. There were four of them, and they all seemed to be around my age. First was the good-looking brunet, tall with jagged spikes pouring in every direction. He seemed to be arguing with the blonde next to him. Said blonde had a cute face and looked eerily like he brunet. He was attempting to convince the brunet of something. The other two just seemed to be laughing. The tallest of the group had long silver hair and appeared to have an air of a relaxed movie star. Last was another blonde. He seemed to be a leader, but looked like a Guido to me, with his hair gelled back ridiculously. But then again, maybe I was just being judgmental. They all kept sneaking glances at me.

I rolled my eyes and adjusted myself, being the self conscious person I was. After pulling down my black and white tweed pencil skirt, I pulled up the sleeve of my black top, conveniently cut off the shoulder so that it fell every five seconds. I moved my legs so that the heel of my absurdly uncomfortable shoes wouldn't dig into my leg any longer. With another sigh, I flipped my burgundy bangs out of my face and cursed Selphie in my head. She was the one who told me to come to this stupid interview. But her intentions were good; I needed the job, quite frankly.

I was startled out of my thoughts as the brunet was shoved toward my direction. Sighing yet again, I prepared myself for the worst. I'd sworn myself off of men when I was in high school. I dated a lot when I was younger, but they only wanted me because I was hot.

"Hi," said the boy, kneeling next to me and looking extremely apprehensive.

"Hello." I didn't bother to even keep the bitterness out of my voice.

"Well, I don't really want to be over here," he started, "but I kinda need to tell you something."

"Go ahead," I replied, inwardly rolling my eyes. He gulped loudly, and then took a deep breath.

"I think that you're absolutely, undeniably, outrageously, shockingly beautiful," he said.

I blinked.

His eyes were so sincere and scared; I couldn't help but believe he was being honest. I've been called many things in my life- hot, gorgeous, slutty, cute, fugly- but beautiful was not one of them. I always told myself I'd marry a man who said I was beautiful.

So the next thing I knew, I was pushing myself up against the cold wall and my lips were on his. His lips were soft, but firm, and slightly open due to shock. That didn't last long, and he was pressing down against my lips. His hands found my hips, and mine his neck. I'm not going to lie. He was a good kisser. Then I realized that I didn't even know the name of the guy I was kissing, after I'd sworn off of men for almost two years. I pulled away. He looked at me, and it was then that I noticed he had some of the bluest eyes I have ever seen.

"I'm Sora," he offered, not changing our position.

"Kairi," I answered breathlessly. Moving away from the new acquaintance, I sat back in my original position and tried to take in all that had just happened. It all went so fast, and bits of the minutes were blurring across my memory.

"Miss Tarento?"

I'd been waiting in that stupid hallway for nearly two hours, and the secretary finally decided to get me at that moment. God hated me, I swore it.

"Yes," I replied.

"You can come in, now."

"Kairi Tarento?" Sora said. "Nice name."

"Thanks?" I said, not sure whether he was serious. "Stay here," I added and followed the secretary into the office.

I thought the interview went well. I couldn't help but notice how perky I was. I wasn't a perky person. I was uptight, rigid, and blunt, as my sister Naminé once told me. As I stepped out of the office, I was shocked to find that Sora and his friends were still there. I was so used to guys leaving me places, that when someone actually waited, I felt honored. Not to mention the interview was a half-hour, and they most likely had better things to do.

"Kairi!" Sora called, grinning, and he waved me over. I walked toward them uneasily, which was unlike me. I was nervous now.

"So you're the girl who jumped our little Sora?" the Guido looking kid said.

"Hayner, es tea effe you," Sora replied. I laughed. I hadn't heard anyone use internet lingo in too long of a time. "Kairi, this idiot is Hayner."

"Nice to meet you," I told Hayner politely.

"It really isn't," said the silver haired teen. "Once you get to know him he'll regret this day. I'm Riku, by the way." I giggled and got the feeling that he and I would get along famously.

"Roxas," gave the spiky blonde.

"I'm Kairi," I said. "But you probably knew that already." Roxas smiled.

"What brings you here, Kairi?" he asked me.

"I need a job," I said flatly.

"Well," crooned Sora. "Since you've had your interview, I'm assuming, would you like to come with us?" The quirky grin on his face was too much.

"I'd love to," I replied, trying to hide my smile. "Where are you headed?"

"The mall," Hayner answered.

"The mall? How old are you?"

"I'll be 21 in a few weeks," Riku answered. "Hayner and Roxas are both 20, though Roxas only has been for a few weeks." Roxas glared at him and pouted. "As you can tell. And ickle Sora, here, is only 19." He ruffled the brunet's hair, and he swiped at him.

"I'll be 20 next month, Riku."

"And what about you?" Roxas asked.

"I'm 19, but I'm old for my age."

"Are you in?" Hayner asked.

"Sure. I'll come. It's not like I have anything better to do." Sora seemed to glow.

"Cool. I'll drive," Riku said. He and Hayner then started to argue about who would drive, and naturally Riku won, being older than Hayner.

As we drove to the mall, I learned a lot about Sora and his friends. Riku was the unelected leader, and he was enjoyable to be around, but was highly competitive. Hayner desperately tried to be a leader by force, but failed. He was funny though, I'd give him that. Roxas was sweet, though sort of emo. He tended to pout often, but when he did, he always got his way. And Sora. Sora was so happy-go-lucky, though frequently seeming bipolar. I felt myself being drawn to him. He seemed like one of those people who always had good intentions. He was sort of spastic too, as I noticed when he nearly broke the car window while talking about something he was really passionate about. He made me laugh. Without trying to, he broke down walls I didn't realize I put around myself. But in a way, that sort of scared me.

Once we were there, we sort of wandered around as teenagers often do. I found myself shying away from Sora and talking a lot to Riku. He seemed to take liking to me, and though our opinions conflicted, we got along great. He seemed cool with me and I was glad. I was so used to alienating myself that when I actually talked to people, I was relieved that they didn't push me away. But the more I talked to Riku, the sadder Sora seemed to become. When we were about to leave, Riku and Hayner got in another argument and Sora pulled me aside.

"What's with you?" he asked me.

"What are you talking about?" I replied.

"When I first met you, you kissed me. Now you won't even look at me. Am I that bad of a kisser or are you a whore?" His words stung me. He was really hurt, and I could tell.

"I'm not a whore," I mumbled, the happiness I had felt now trailing on the ground.

"Then what?" he said, tilting my chin so that I looked him in the eye.

"I barely know you," I said softly. "Why do I matter to you?"

"I don't know. But I want to find out." I couldn't help but smile.

"You're different. And I guess it scares me a little bit."

"Don't be afraid of the unknown. Change is good, sometimes."

I hugged him. Even then, I guess I knew that we would be together for a long time.

-x-x-x-x-

Two years have passed and I'm happy to say Sora and I are still together. After Selphie and Naminé moved out of our little loft, I'd moved in with him and Riku. Sora and I still are perfectly happy together, and Riku has become my unofficial older brother. He's also the mediator of fights, which was a relief. When Sora and I were happy, life couldn't be better. However, if one of us was mad, both of us were mad. And this often resulted in chaos and earth-shattering screaming.

Unhappy Sora was also Crazy Sora. After having a bad day at work, he'd come home and was convinced that I was cheating on him with Roxas. Which is absolutely crazy. Needless to say, we had a fun few days and we most likely would have broken up if it weren't for Riku. Thank God for him.

So, as I'm sitting in the kitchen, eating my cereal, and Sora comes in with a strange look on his face and his hands in his pockets, I'm uneasy. Riku's out and won't be back until late that night and I do not want to start another fight.

"What's up?" I ask him. He looks up, and I could have sworn I see a mischievous glint in his eyes, though it's probably the light.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Nothing my ass.

"Sora…"

"It's nothing!" he cries. As he flings his hands out of his pockets and turns to face the cabinets, a box flies out and lands by my feet. I pick it up pensively and glance up at my boyfriend. He's now raiding the place for food. I swear that boy has a bottomless pit for a stomach. I open the box, placing the lid neatly under the box, only to find another box. I pluck it out.

"What's this?" I ask, holding it up.

"Please don't open it," he says, eyes begging.

"Why? What is it?" It could be anything. I just pray that it isn't drugs.

"Don't. Please."

Rolling my eyes, I open it anyway. Pulling up the lid, my eyes fall upon the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. In a white gold band, a square cut diamond lies. I gasped and stared. Looking up, I find Sora on his knee in front of me.

"Kairi Tarento," he says, taking my hand.

"Oh my God," I say.

"Will you marry me?"

"Ohmigodohmigodohmigod" is my lovely reply. "Yes? Yes! Yes, of course I will!"

He laughs, and his trademark grin covers his face.

"You did that on purpose!" I suddenly exclaimed. "You threw the box."

"Maybe I did," he replies, and he picks me up, twirling me like the princess he says I am. Bringing me down, he kisses me softly. Two years of moments of laughter, love, and fights flash before my eyes and I start to laugh.

"You're beautiful, Kai, I'm so lucky to have you."

The one that remains in my head is the day we first met.

Ahh, fluff. :) I beg of thee, review.


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